An Excellent Example

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

An Excellent Example

Extract from Chapter 33 of QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir:

21. Laqad kana lakum fee rasooli Allahi oswatun hasanatun liman kana yarjoo Allaha waalyawma al-akhira wathakara Allaha katheeran

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21. Certainly you have in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example for anyone who turns to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much. ⁴

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4. Divine qualification thus of Prophet Muhammad (peace on him) has been sorely misconstrued by a great number of Muslims today. Such Muslims go to the ridiculous extent of doing exactly as the Prophet allegedly did in his personal life in mundane matters like how he ate, wore his clothes, slept, or even answered calls of nature. I know of people now who would like to take their meals squatting on the floor because the Prophet had done so. The Imams would not use mikes while leading prayers in masjids because the Prophet had not used them. To learn what the Prophet did in his day-to-day life, they resort not to the Qur’aan, but to the man-influenced and error-prone ahaadeeth. Had they followed the Qur’aan sincerely, they would have realized that what Allah Ta’ala meant by this Verse is that the Prophet meticulously followed what the Qur’aan stipulated, and that the believers should try to emulate him in this regard and not in regard to what he otherwise did in his personal life. Chapter 103 of the Qur’aan stipulates that a human being ought to believe, do righteous deeds, exhort others to live by the truth, and exhort others with patience. This is exactly what our beloved Prophet did in his illustrious life. Allah Ta’ala urges the believers in the Verse above to emulate him in this.

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Mohammad Shafi

Friday, the 20^th of October 2017.